Entering Thursday's action, No. 9 Atholton, Oakland Mills and Reservoir each had a shot at a share of the Howard County baseball championship. The visiting Raiders defeated Wilde Lake, 6-3, to claim the title. The host Gators beat the Scorpions, 4-1, in Thursday's other county game.

Had Wilde Lake beaten Atholton and Reservoir defeated Oakland Mills, all three teams would have finished with 12-5 league records.

After dispatching Wilde Lake, the Raiders (13-4) only had to wait to see if Oakland Mills would beat Reservoir to clinch the other half of the title, or if Reservoir would win, giving Atholton the championship outright.

With the game tied at 1 in the sixth inning, the Gators finally broke through, scoring three runs on a single by Joey Janush, a hit batter, back-to-back RBI singles by Drew Stone and Tony Grabow, and an RBI double off the left field fence by Danny O'Hagan.

Atholton and Reservoir both earned first-round byes, while Oakland Mills will host Long Reach in the first round of the regional playoffs May 10.

—Andrew Conrad,

Baltimore Sun Media Group

Softball

No. 9 Mount Hebron 11, Centennial 0: Maddie Bennett and the Vikings didn't have to think back very far to drum up some confidence heading into their Class 3A East playoff game against the Eagles.

After all, it had been just three days since Bennett had pitched a one-hit shutout against Centennial on senior day.

She was masterful once again, striking out seven and allowing just two hits, and the Mount Hebron bats did the rest.

"It definitely helped having just seen them, knowing what we were capable of," said Bennett, who also batted in a run.

—Brent Kennedy,

Baltimore Sun Media Group

Brent Kennedy

Baltimore Sun Media Group

No. 13 Atholton 12, Annapolis 0: Alex Herschman was one hit away from a perfect game for the host Raiders (14-5), who scored 11 runs in the first inning.

No. 14 C. Milton Wright 14, Woodlawn 0: After capturing the Upper Chesapeake Bay Athletic Conference title with a 4-1 decision over Havre de Grace on Wednesday night, the host Mustangs (17-3) shut out the Warriors in the Class 3A North regional opener.

Kyralee Comeaux pitched a one-hit shutout, striking out 10 in five innings. She also had a triple, an RBI and two runs scored. Caroline Weimer (2-for-3) had two doubles, two RBIs and one run scored for C. Milton Wright, which will face the Aberdeen/North Harford winner in Monday's quarterfinals.

Bel Air 4, Hereford 0: Rayn Gibson struck out 14 and Kelsea Hilditch went 2-for-3 to lead the visiting Bobcats (8-7) past the Bulls (10-4) in a Class 3A North regional opener.

Track and field

Anne Arundel County championships: The No. 9 Severna Park girls and the Old Mill boys had little trouble in winning the team titles in Thursday's championship meet at Northeast.

Old Mill's boys were even more dominant. The Patriots compiled 159 points, running away from Severna Park (97.5) and the rest of the field.

—Jeff Seidel

Wednesday's baseball

Glenelg Country 5, Boys' Latin 4: After a 65-minute weather delay, host Glenelg's Matt Campbell held Boys' Latin, which led 4-0 after two innings, to one hit over the last four.

The Dragons (16-2, 13-2 Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association B conference) have a first-round bye in the conference tournament and await the winner of St. Vincent Pallotti's game with Boys' Latin (10-10, 8-7) in Monday's second round.